The Book of Tahm
by spyofthecentury
Summary: A fanfic I wrote a few years ago inspired by the Myst novels. When the hopeful chance of returning to D'ni is revealed, so are its demons.


_**Prologue**_

The wind howled through the dark night; lush forests brushed the edge of the blackening sky as grass tore up from the loose soil. Behind a hunched hemlock, a tall man watched the two moons rise over the meadow, waiting for the slightest movement of extraterrestrial life. As clouds slowly grew larger, rain droplets began to fall. At this, the man looked up and chuckled to himself, and left the forest towards the muddy meadow.

Suddenly, an old book fell down to the man's feet; the man then turned over the first page and touched the smooth paper. Moments later, a lighting bolt struck right where the man stood, but he was already gone…

 **The Book of Tahm**

 _ **Phase 1**_

Waves splashed along the rocky shore as large seagulls flew above the playful children. Velchan watched silently, eager and anxious for Lusk to return, wishing he had never volunteered to retrieve the "Great Book." But this book was the talk of the year. Rumors said it could even lead to new freedom and overthrow power. The only one who ever had known power and freedom was the grumpy, aging Shorah.

Shorah had been a young beautiful girl when she was in the time of when there was power and wealth, in a great city of action and bustling citizens. Shorah vaguely remembered how the city was governed, but the only characteristic that laid burning in her mind was the city's name; D'ni.

Velchan always wondered how much Shorah had suffered through those years; being in a large underground city and then fleeing without explanation, ending up in an open, wide area of sea air, and restarting her life. Velchan then roused herself from her drifting thoughts and looked up to the silver dome planted on the looming cliff ahead. Lusk had arrived.

Once Velchan arrived at the glowing chamber, there was already a crowd surrounding the shiny gold doors. The doors then creaked open and out came a tall man with stunningly handsome features and a gleaming smile. Velchan's heart leaped as Lusk slowly strolled in Velchan's direction. In Lusk's strong hands was a bulky ancient book with the inscribed word, D'ni.

"Where is it? Where is D'ni?" called a scratchy voice. Behind the crowd stood Shorah, her oddly long cane held in her weak hand and her eyebrows furrowing deep into her wrinkling skin. "I must return to my home…" Shorah spoke quietly, head drooping down.

Lusk gazed at Shorah curiously and hesitated. After a moment, he tossed the book to Shorah. With a soft thud, the book landed at her feet and unexpectedly, Shorah lifted her suffering face to everyone, snatched the book, placed her hand on the first page, and linked into the page. She had gone through the book.

Uproar grew suddenly, children screaming in fear, men rising to arguments, and women defending their young from the quarreling men. Meanwhile, Lusk and Velchan stared blankly where the old woman once stood.

"You should retrieve her; she is not well." Devoka'ni, an old friend and Council leader, said regretfully to Lusk "Sitting like a duck with no meals, no rest, and no chatter. Leaving her on her own is not the best idea… if you want her back, that is"

"What should we do, Lusk?" wondered Velchan nervously.

When no answer came, Velchan started to walk away to the windy shore, planning to leave Lusk and Devoka'ni alone.

"Wait… we shall have a council gathering. Tonight…" replied Lusk.

 _ **Phase 2**_

That night, with the stars glittering in the darkness and under the illumination of yellow moonlight, the gathering was held.

"Order! The meeting is now in session; tonight's topic: Shorah's disappearance!" Devoka'ni shouted over the humming noise of chatter. At once, the noise died down and every pair of glistening eyes was focused on Devoka'ni. "The council recognizes Lusk, brave traveler and receiver of the 'Great Book'."

"Today, fellows, has been a great day." began Lusk. "The 'Great Book' has been found and now is the time of 'eternity freedom'!" Cheers rose through the dimly lit tent. After moments of happiness and congratulating voices, Devoka'ni raised his hand and the room filled with silence.

"But it is also a day of shock and despair" continued Lusk. "Shorah has disappeared into a possible unsafe territory and we shall recruit troops to locate her." The silence grew on, not even a mutter… "Do not grieve! We will have the foretold free eternity and it is thanks to all of you and communities everywhere"

"All in favor for recruiting troops, say Aye!" said Devoka'ni, taking over Lusk's position. "All in opposition, say Nay!"

Lusk left the crowded tent as the vote went on and strolled along the shoreline. Sighing deeply, he slumped down, resting on a cold slab of rock and stared into the depths of the galaxies and stars above him Suddenly, a dark figure thrust Lusk down into the sand, knocked him in the head with a rigid stone, and soon darkness filled his vision.

 _ **Phase 3**_

The morning came and went, and soon it was time for the troops that were gathered during last night's meeting to leave to D'ni. The sun shone on each man's back; and all of them were eager and prepared. When the nara clock clicked 14:00, the soldiers marched into the dark Silver Dome and one by one, they all linked into the book. Suddenly, Velchan realized something wrong; Lusk was not here.

"Stop! Don't go…" Velchan hollered, "Lusk is missing; we should wait for him!"

"Wait!? But over half of the troops are already past the Age Barrier." replied Ga'Reim, a young sentry boy.

"Ga'Reim, you and I can seek out Lusk while the rest move on; they must find that woman!" answered Devoka'ni. At those words, the soldiers left while Ga'Reim, Devoka'ni, and Velchan went on the search for the missing Lusk. Ga'Reim decided to move toward the snow-capped mountains in the East when a blood-curdling scream came from the dark thick forest of Yesefe.

Immediately, Devoka'ni silently instructed Ga'Reim to enter the right sector of the forest with Devoka'ni himself on the left. At the signal, the duo entered the forest and began their search. Ga'Reim stepped through the crunchy leaves and crouched down now and then, investigating for any trace of unfamiliar life. Moments later, Ga'Reim had found a shiny ring that was flecked with blood, and inscribed: Lusk & Velchan.

Meanwhile, Velchan was searching the shoreline, remembering Lusk had been there after the long, tiring gathering- But Velchan wasn't at the gathering, so how would she have known this? Velchan, scared and worried about Lusk and Shorah and wishing it were all a stressful dream, began to cry. She couldn't have her beloved die so soon and so young. Slumping down onto a slab of stone, Velchan sat there, sobbing, when out of the corner of her eye, she saw a miniature chunk of nara next to a pair of deep footsteps.

 _'_ _Wait; there's no available nara on Yesefe. This is not right, not one bit.'_ thought Velchan and so she walked off, following the mysterious footsteps, unaware where it would take her.

Ga'Reim had been inspecting the ring when the blood-curdling scream rose once more. This time, it came from deeper into the dark thick forest; followed by silence. Ga'Reim slowly got up and went searching once more; right then, he saw something glinting in the sunlight. Upon closer inspection, it proved to be a bloodstained knife.

Lying a few feet apart from the knife was the body of Devoka'ni; eyes staring deeply into everything and nothing with a mouth expression of terror and torture. Above his head was a strange, Bahro Linking stone that was pinned to a hunched Yema tree with the word Shimar inscribed on it. Someone else had certainly been there.

 _ **Phase 4**_

When he awoke, Lusk noticed he was bound in tight ropes onto a cold platform. His head throbbed. A dim lamp that hung from the ceiling pierced the darkness around him and a small peephole built into the towering wall. A faint humming, like a motor, rumbled underneath Lusk and few water droplets echoed behind the dull walls. Suddenly, vile laughter boomed through the chamber.

"Who is there? Show yourself!" shouted Lusk impatiently.

"Fool… Leading your natives to eternity freedom?" answered a loud booming voice "Ha! You are wondering who I am,, where that pathetic old witch is, and why I have taken you into custody? First, I am not what you think I am. I am the Supreme Councilor and Guild Leader of all Ages-Lord A'Gaeris, the destroyer of D'ni."

Lusk tried to speak, hoping to protest, but his mouth was dry. All he could do was to listen to A'Gaeris's rant.

"Oh, yes, D'ni did fall. And now the second question: Shorah is dead. She ended up in one of my brilliant Prison Ages; and all your men are dead.. Finally, I just love torturing people who interfere MY PLANS! You want the real D'ni book? I have it, but soon it will be consumed in flames. Oh, and by the way, I have stolen all of your Produce Ages and they will also burn into lovely ash."

At this, A'Gaeris laughed maniacally and shut the light off, leaving Lusk alone in silent darkness. Moments later, Lusk felt a tugging around his ankles.. Rats crawled all over Lusk's bound ankles, chewing each strand of the ropes. Soon the rats moved forwards his forearms. Tedious minutes passed, but eventually, Lusk's bonds were broken.

Finding no door, Lusk began climbing up the stone brick walls, the stench of warm sulfur crawling into his nose. Seeing a duct vent nearby, Lusk clambered towards it and wiggled through. After moments of tight darkness, He found a ladder and clambered down

 _'_ _Where am I going?'_ thought Lusk _'What if I am doing the wrong thing?'_ He hesitated, thinking. _'No, I should get D'ni back.'_ And Lusk went to the unknown mists of Shimar.

 _ **Phase 5**_

The yellow moon shone faintly between the puffy clouds, red stars speckled between patches of dark blue sky. Tension was in the thickening air, and with the news that blood had been shed, everyone from Yesefe struggled to sleep. But they did not know about the mysterious linking stone or Ga'Reim and Velchan's exit from the Age.

"Should we follow and enter the Age?" asked Velchan anxiously.

"Lusk is nowhere to be found, so the only possible route is through this Link, based on the information we have; a leader's death, blood-curdling screams, and an unknown linking stone…" replied Ga'Reim and shrugging, he linked into the stone. Velchan thought briefly, pondering if this was the right way. Looking around her and absent-mindedly rubbing Lusk's ring, Velchan then felt the soft fabric against the rigid stone and disappeared.

Landing in a deep chamber, Ga'Reim feebly walked around, waiting for Velchan. Moments later, Velchan appeared. Seeing a large metallic door, the duo went through and found themselves outside on a brown, crusty surface among several pools of sulfur.

"Sulfur!" exclaimed Ga'Reim, noting the smell

"Yes, but why would someone use sulfur?" wondered Velchan.

"Only one way to find out; just follow the faint smoke around the corner…"

Lusk found himself in a glass tube built in a pool of water. Tracking the way out, Lusk crawled through the tube, reaching a metallic window and shimmying out. As he exited, he smelled smoke all around him. Looking around, he found a large orange door, light pouring through the cracks. Behind the orange gate were sounds of malicious laughter and a faint crackling. A'Gaeris was already burning the books!

Lusk then quickly opened the gate and saw a tall, wise-looking man bent over a growing fire, feeding the animated flames broken twigs and branches. Suddenly, the man grabbed the fake D'ni book and thrust it into the fire.

"Hello there." said A'Gaeris unexpectedly. "Come to see the fiery show?" He then turned to Lusk, a gleeful smirk shone on his face.

"If you want to live, say that to your... rat-infested mind!" Lusk retorted weakly, knowing his threat wasn't strong. A'Gaeris laughed and grabbed the Yesefe linking book, leaning closer to the hungry flames.

"This is the only way out of here; if it burns, we all burn. The linking book back to D'ni is already ashes; D'ni still lives, but you cannot see it with your own pathetic eyes! Ha!"

Suddenly, there was a loud knocking on the other side of the gradually burning room. Distractedly, A'Gaeris swore and lowered the linking book, moving even closer to the fire towards the side door. After waiting for the right minute, Lusk grabbed an oil lamp and shoved A'Gaeris into the fire, covering him in oil. A'Gaeris screamed in pain, twitching around, and flinging books all over.

Clutching the Yesefe book and a few other Ages, Lusk ran for the door, watching A'Gaeris reaching for help. Finally, the silhouette of A'Gaeris was gone and the room was silent but for the crackling of the fire. Lusk unlocked the side door and found Velchan; who leapt into his arms. Ga'Reim met him with a relived grin.

"Let's go home" said Velchan blissfully, kissing Lusk on the cheek "We can have other adventures without D'ni."

"Yes, let's go home." replied Lusk and the trio then one by one linked back to Yesefe. Lusk lingered behind. Staring to the smoldering fire, he wondered if he would ever see D'ni. Lusk shook his head and touched the velvety paper of the book. Soon he was gone, the flames licking the edges of the Yesefe book as silence crawled into the burnt room, never to be disturbed again.

 _ **Epilogue**_

The two moons shone brightly, the storm finally passed away. Speckled stars of blue and yellow illuminated the dark sky while faint breezes cooled the lush meadow. A hunched hemlock stood in the left of the torn forest. Pinned on the trunk was a rigid Bahro Linking stone. Lying nearby the hemlock was a tall man, with his robes scorched by flames, dreaming through the night. The man then laughed maniacally in his sleep and absent-mindedly seized a book with one word inscribed on it: D'ni.


End file.
